Creatio Mission Work

One of my new friends just sent me this photo. This precious child could be on the cover of the next National Geographic (and I think some of you might want to kidnap her). My friend Ricardo has an amazing story of conversion that would put the movie, "Into the Wild" to shame. This guy, at the age of 18, bought a $2000 plane ticket around the world searching for God. All he brought was his surfboard and some clothes.

After traveling to India, through the Himalayas, the East Indies, and the South Pacific; spending time with Hindu and Buddhist monks and healers, traveling to the most hidden beaches and living in a "paradise," he felt empty. None of the wise people he met had the answers he was looking for. Even the perfect waves couldn't satisfy his thirst for God. This guy was even coaching the Bhuton national soccer team (because he was Brazilian), but he didn't find God doing that either. It was only when he arrived back home and found God in the Catholic Church, the place that he least expected it, did he have this thirst quenched.

Today he runs mission trips from the US to Peru. You can information on his website: http://www.creatioweb.org/index.htm We're looking to overhaul this site to make it as exciting as his mission trips, so please leave some comments about what you think we should add.

His trips are really amazing because they not only introduce you to the culture, connect you with the people, allow you to build something, but you also are challenged on an intellectual and ecological level. There's really nothing else out there that connects with people on all of these levels. I'm going to be going with him in June if anybody wants to join us...

More Questionable Spending...

With all this bailout conversation going on, I just had to weigh in. I apologize to anyone coming here to see pictures of Peru, but if you don't want to read about another person being upset about this "stimulus", please come back tomorrow, I promise I'll have some good pictures and stories not associated with economics or politics.

So the US Gov't is getting ready to spend nearly $1 trillion and citizens are asking good questions like: where is this money going? How many jobs will it create? Isn't $1 trillion too much? Why are we rushing this through?

Let's be clear, there is not a single solution. Tax cuts are not the answer. People are fearful and if you give them money right now, they will hoard it. Tax cuts also cannot fix roads, build infrastructure, and fund public education.

Radical spending, however, will not fix the problem either. Funding projects that will take years, will not help things now. We are fighting the issue that economists call a "self fulfilling prophecy." If people believe something is going to happen, they will change their habits and patterns in anticipation of that event, thus creating the event.

We need to build concerte things now. We need to build projects that will increase efficiency in the future, that will reduce people's travel time to work, that will enhance the value that they provide to society. We also need to provide assistance to states so that there is a temporary safety net to assist people that lose their jobs, but also provide the services and the know how for them to find new jobs.

This bill must not be an ideological spending bill where pet projects are funded. We need to target the sectors that are being hit the hardest because you can't turn a financial analyst into a green energy engineer, or a nurse. You can't turn a construction worker into a scientist researching global warming, or somebody seeding the National Lawn ($200 million!!!).

I've been very disappointed with our politicians responses:

From the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee (he helped craft the bill)
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=274243
"So what?" This is our money buddy. You and your political friends might get away without paying taxes, but the rest of us have to. A Democracy means we can ask these questions, and you will answer them, or we will vote you out.

President Obama's shifting response on how many jobs it will create:
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=272913
2 million, 3 million, or 4 million jobs? Depends on how you feel? Maybe you should put together your economic team before we spend $1 trillion, come back with a real plan and then we'll spend some money.

How much is a trillion? Is it too much?
http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=273033
No big deal, we're the US Gov't and we're going to take another 10% of the economy from you the taxpayers, and spend it how we want. Don't worry, there's $30 billion in there to fix roads. Where's the other $750 billion going? Ummm...on other stuff, just trust us.

If we had rushed this through, this little sentence about protectionist policies could have set off a firestorm of economic protectionist policies around the world, thereby repeating what actually lead us into the Great Depression:
http://news.aol.ca/article/obama-bill-causing-grave-concerns/506468/
It kind of makes you wonder why Rep. Pelosi was smiling when this bill passed in the House without a single Republican vote. Do they want to set off an economic disaster (even greater than the one we're in now), or did they just never take an economics class?

We're not going to tell you what we're spending the money on:
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/02/daley-refuses-to-release-stimulus-project-list.html

What happened to no pet projects:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/23/biden-vows-no-pet-project-stimulus-bill/

God help us.

A few new updates...

After spending some time reflecting on some of my areas of opportunity (A Vanguard flashback), I decided to implement a tight new daily schedule. I think that this will not only make me more productive, but I think a certain amount of structure and order is just plain good for the soul!

Yesterday, I went up to the Andes, as you can see in the pictures below. We were planning a trip to the jungle, but because a big rain storm hit (it's the rainy season) they closed the highway. So, instead we made a trip up to the mountains. It was really interesting to see how the different people lived. We went to a place that doesn't get many visitors, besides maybe a truck driver passing through, and these people had seen even fewer gringos. It was pretty funny to see the looks on the children's faces when they looked at me. Maybe they were thinking, "Does this guy ever see the sun?" Or "is he a giant?" Either way, the kids were precious, and I know a number of you want me to kidnap a few and bring them home...

I started formal Spanish lessons today, and it's going to be difficult. My instructor only speaks to me in Spanish and it's just the two of us, so there's no where to hide! My homework is to watch an hour of Spanish CNN each day. Apparently they speak slower and with no accent. I'll keep you updated on how that's going.

Also, I'm thinking about starting a little non-profit business down here. Many of the Sodalites in the CLM have incredible ideas, but no business sense. So I'm wondering it I should start a little consulting group here to help them raise money, organize their projects, and help them to manage their cashflow. This, I think, will allow them to spend more time working on what God has created them to do, and leave the administrative business stuff to someone that knows it a little better. I'm still thinking about the specifics, but I think it might be one way for me to do God's work here. Also, if I teach at the high school, I might be able to grab a few of the top students and give them an opportunity to learn business first hand, and provide the CLM with some cheap labor...more to come on this...

Andes Part II

A visit to the Andes

Working out at the gym

Last night I worked out for the first time in months and months. It's true, I've fallen terribly out of shape!

After signing up at Gold's Gym, they have a policy where they give you a tour, a physical, and a session with a trainer. Naturally, I didn't want any of this. I understand why they do this, but it's not like I've never been in a gym before. Yet, I went along with it (reluctantly and complaining as well). During the process, my poor roommate went along with me to bridge the language gap, I think he was actually entertained by my complaining.

The first step was a quick tour. Ok, this is where that is, and this is where you do this. Great. Next, came the quick physical. I'm ___cm's tall, I weigh ___kg's, my arms and chest are __cm and __cm (I leave it blank because I can't remember, which is probably a derivative of the fact that I couldn't relate to what those meaurements mean). Then I step on the body fat scale. Finally, something I can relate to, a percentage.

This, of course, is after I tell my roommate of the great days of my youth when I was only 4.5% body fat at Regis...oh, the good ole' days...Bam! 11%! What! Holy Bill of Rights Batman, I'm flabby!

So this joke physical test all of a sudden became a real mission for me: get my out-of-shape body back into acceptable form.

My goal: 10lbs (maybe 2.5kgs?) and down to 7% body fat in the next 4 months.

PS. I won't have any blog updates for the next two days, going on a quick trip to Central Peru. Hopefully I'll have some good reflections and pictures to share!

My first earthquake...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/03/content_10753319.htm

This morning the ground shook for a few seconds. It kind of didn't seem real to me, until people started freaking out. You would have thought they had never been in an earthquake, or, more realistically, remember what a big one feels like. Either way, it's a good reminder that Peru is on the ring of fire, which is so strange because before I went to bed last night I was thinking about writing a blog entry about the possibility of experiencing an earthquake. I scratched the idea because I thought it would sound a little dramatic.

Instead, now I look like I'm making stuff up. Either way, we felt a small earthquake, it was my first one, no damage, I'm alive, I hope I don't experience a big one, and I'm still disappointed the Cardinals blew the game (with the help of terrible officiating).

My last big development of the day: I signed up at the Gold's Gym. They wanted to charge me $/. 1,600 ($500) for 12 months, but my roommate and I woked them down to $/.1,200 ($400) for 12 months, which is almost as good as already being in shape...

My next blog entry will detail the 20-30% gringo surcharge effect...

A Couple of Paradoxes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_bi_ge/savings_frugal_society

Anytime someone says, "It's good for the individual, but bad for the economy," we know something is out of wack! An economy and society that says the person must be put in a worse situation (slavery to debt), for the salavation of the economy must be questioned.

Let me be clear, I'm a firm believer in classical education, but we also need common sense education. How many people don't know how to save for the future? How many people don't have an emergency fund? How many people put their happiness in material things, often at the financial risk of their families?

This crises is being blamed on failure to regulate. Some are calling for a New World Order, and the Obama Administration has been quoted as saying, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." We don't need a New World Order, we need a return to Common Sense! This crisis should not be used as an opportunity to push an ideological agenda, instead, this must be a return to the foundational principles that create responsible wealth (from the Richest Man in Babylon - I still have to give this back to Tyler):

• Start thy purse to fattening. Take one-tenth of what you bring in and save it for the future. The book uses a coin analogy: for every nine coins you spend, take one and put it away for yourself. This is very sensible; a goal all of us should have.
• Control thy expenditures. Don’t buy frivolous things even if you have enough money to pay for them. Instead, make sure that you can continue to save one-tenth of what you bring in.
• Make thy gold multiply. Once you start to build up some savings, invest that money so that it will make more money for you. Another pretty clear point; if you start saving money, it shouldn’t just sit in a mattress. Even a high-yield savings account is much better than that, and it can double your principal in about fifteen years.
• Guard thy treasure from loss. This one is interesting: you should only invest in things that you understand.
• Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment. One should own their own home rather than renting because then money can be invested in the home or invested in other things rather than handed over to the landlord. Something tells me that this lesson applied better before people were looking at homes that were three or four times their annual income.
• Insure a future income. In other words, invest for retirement and your family’s well being after your passing. You should be dropping some Benjamins right into your retirement account if you can afford it.
• Increase thy ability to earn. Work hard, look for opportunities, and educate yourself. Today, a college education is one of the best investments you can make, but it's only one piece of the puzzle. Keep look for opportunities to grow and increase your ability to add value.

Final paradox of the day: "stop having children, people are killing the earth, instead we should kill people in order to save the planet."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,486390,00.html

It's scary to think that the Green Peace movement has nothing to do with peace, and in fact considers humanity to be a deadly disease. These people are really in the government and are behind many anti-human policies that are positioned as "green." This is an important reminder that even good (green policies), can result in bad (limiting human freedom and elminating human life) and we may not even know it.

A good reminder from St Paul (2 Timothy 4)

For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but,
following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, 2 will
accumulate teachers
4
and will stop listening to the
truth and will be diverted to myths.
5
But you, be
self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of
an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
6
3 For I
am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at
hand.
7
4 I have
competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
8
5 From
now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for
his appearance.

Congressional Summary and SuperBowl!

This week I attended a Congress on the Anthropology of the Human Person. It was my first introduction to the Spirituality of the Christian Life Movement. Now, I think that I'm a pretty smart guy, and I have studied philosophy in the past, but this stuff was pretty heavy. I was extremely impressed with the intellectual firepower this Movement has.

I'm not going to claim to be able to summarize everything that I heard this week, but what I will try to do is take some of the pieces I grasped (it's more difficult to understand complex philosophy when it's being translated by non-professionals than one would think, although they did a great job for not being professionals, yet some things were certainly lost in translation).

The CLM Spirituality seems to be able to analyze the current issues of today, in a non-political way, and tear these approaches down philosophically, revealing the core beliefs about humanity that many of these ideologies claims.

Also, they draw on classic philosophy to explain how civilizations developed, and they also consider current philosophical movements and how they're causing the turmoil that we're seeing today. The other important piece, they note, is the technological and communicative change we are experiencing, thereby shrinking the world. Many of these philosophies are able to attack and gain followers so much more quickly, and without a proper analysis of what the end result of the ideology is - think marketing and packaging.

Topics at the conference included (translated by me, so they may not be exact):

• Carism and Spirtuality
• The Human Person and our Fundamental Dynamism
• The Human Person and our Relational Dynamic
• Fundamentals of Industrial Anthropology in Greek thought
• Body, Soul, and Spirit in the Sacred Scripture
• The Human Person, made in the Image and Likeness of God
• The Vision and Trial of Man
• Original Sin and key anthropology
• The Lord, Forgiveness and Revelation of the Human Person
• The Human Person and Free Cooperatoin with Grace

I think I've met more professionals (ie. doctors, lawyers, professors, etc.) in 3 weeks here than I've met in my life. The thing that is really appealing, is that they just don't work as professionals, they do their work for the most disadvataged, while at the same time working on intellectual initiatives. It's a great balance that I hope to achieve.

These men are called "Sodalites" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodalite, a sodalite is a "form fitting rock", think St. Peter, "the Rock." It's also rare, but found in large numbers (like the Movement). I don't know if they were named after this rock, or if it's just a coincidence, but it's a neat connection.

Clarification: The Sodalites are not named after the rock. The founder of the
sodalites found them in a rock shop on his birthday one day and made the
connection symbolically. The rock actually stands for (reconciliation). The
rocks are mostly found in Brazil and parts of Canada. They are bright blue rocks
(color of Mary).

Well, today is the SuperBowl and I haven't really found anyone that cares about American Football, so I'm going to throw my own party. I'm thinking about ordering some Dominos and having a traditional SuperBowl Party for myself!